Locks and keys to the boardroom

This paper reports an interview study with 12 directors in a major international telecommunications company, to identify the career paths which they took to reach board level in their organisation. The aim was to ascertain whether there were gender differences in the career facilitators and barriers met en route to the top. The six male and six female directors were asked about the further obstacles which they perceived would have to be faced. Visibility through mentoring and challenge was the facilitator which led to success in their earlier careers. Using Kirchmeyer’s classification, evidence was found to support her four categories of barriers in this UK sample: human capital (lack of qualifications and languages in a globalised world); individual (being aggressive, being female, impostor syndrome); interpersonal (gaining entry to organisational politics); and family determinants. For both men and women, family roles impacted their energy levels at work. It was found that the career hurdles and facilitators were very similar for both men and women directors.